A Crown Of Blades(ARTK, Book 3)

Chapter 149-150

Seggos 7th,3330 A.G

Braya got comfortable under the bed furs in Ysabelle's old chambers, her mind quickly wandering. She'd never seen someone try to appear so happy, to the point they even looked like they were convincing themselves too- with eyes so sad they looked like they didn't belong with the rest of the face. It were as if every muscle in Andrew's face except the eyes got the message, and-

  "What are you thinking about?" Ysabelle threw herself down on the bed beside her, her hair finally under the silk sleep cap a traveling merchant suggested for the curls. It were a newer invention, they claimed- even in Bera and Muris, but slowly gaining popularity for how soft silk made one's hair. Ysabelle had never cared much before, but something about being with someone she cared for- for once; changed that.

  "Just that I wonder what that flinch was about earlier." Braya swallowed. "Your brother is.... So kind. Especially to those that deserve it; when I left to go to a bathing chamber I ran into him in the hallway giving a woman that looked far too thin bags and bags of food. I didn't ask because it didn't seem like my place to do so..... but I assume she was either unable to work or too proud to accept help."

  "My brother has been through a lot." Ysabelle propped herself up on an elbow so she could get a better view of Brayan's face. "Agnes and Krea and his child dying- then becoming a father again so soon. Other things that I know are just below the surface; that he never wants to talk to me about. So he will always.... Try to take away other people's suffering. That is just the kind of person he is, but Braya- I do not want to talk about my brother right now."

  Ysabelle started to pull Braya closer for a kiss, for their nightly.... Activities- but Braya pulled back with a frown. For how much she loved the woman, Ysabelle could be self absorbed at times.

  "He seems so lonely still." Braya tried. "He is a high lord, surrounded by people constantly- but he doesn't really have anyone to love. Anyone he can talk to about what... troubles him. You are his sister so it simply will not be you and from the things you've said about your mother it won't be her either. So what-"

  Braya stopped talking out of pure annoyance the moment Ysabelle rolled her eyes.

  "My brother is very kind." Ysabelle said. "That is true. He manages to make at least one friend no matter where he is, so you must trust me when I say he'll be fine-"

  "What if we live here?" Braya blurted out. She'd been trying to work up to it, but now she saw there were no way to do that. Ysabelle blinked over and over and over again, like she were trying to process that Braya actually had the audacity to say something like that.

  "You said it yourself, we can't." Ysabelle gulped. "Besides I.... I must live with my husband- your brother and people will talk if-"

  Her voice trailed off as her thoughts did the same. Live here? Marrying Braya'a brother to be able to stay with her were the sacrifice. It were supposed to be the plan for the rest of their lives, not just a few months- and if they broke that now....

  All it took were one too many people spewing one too many rumors. And of course she hasn't cared of any of that before, when she had no one to care about and had publicly lived how she chose- but she couldn't do that now. Not when she and Braya had hid their relationship so well.

  Not when Ysabelle finally had someone to care about.